Abstract

We are developing a programme to fabricate atomic scale device structures of phosphorus atoms in a silicon substrate. The first step in this process is the fabrication of 2D Si:P delta-doped layers in silicon, which have recently also been theoretically studied in terms of electrical transport by Hwang and Das Sarma (E. H. Hwang and S. Das Sarma, Phys. Rev. B, 87, 125411). The Si:P delta-doped layers are expected to exhibit interesting behaviors when the density of the P atom doping is varied through the metal-insulator transition, as well as for the high (~ 1014 per cm2) and low (below 1013) doping regimes. We are fabricating Si:P delta-doped layers of varying densities from around 6 x 1012 to 2 x 1014 P atoms per cm2, which we will use to experimentally assess the theoretical findings of Hwang and Das Sarma. Details of the fabrication process will also be discussed.